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<P>Haley’s Wheels</B></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2><BR><BR>Haley sat in the window of her bedroom, twirling her long blonde hair around her fingers. She watched the playground across the street. The other kids were playing basketball on this beautiful spring day. She wanted so badly to join them, but she couldn’t. Her Mom would never allow it. She hadn’t ever been allowed to play with the other neighborhood kids since the accident. So, since her ninth birthday, she had sat in the window and watched. At school, tryouts for the junior varsity basketball team would be in a few weeks. That was what all the kids were practicing for and Haley wanted to practice with them! The desire to play made her grab the low windowsill and try to stand, but when her body weight lifted up; her wheelchair slid out from under her. <BR><BR>Haley gasped as she fell in the floor, her wheelchair now halfway across the room. Her Mom heard her crash to the floor and ran into the room.<BR><BR>"Haley! Are you okay?"<BR><BR>Haley felt her Mom start tugging on her arms, as she lifted her thin body back into her chair. "Sure, Mom. I’m fine."<BR><BR>"What happened?" her Mom asked, as she folded her arms across her chest.<BR><BR>"I was just trying to see out the window better, and I pulled too hard."<BR><BR>Her Mom turned to look out at the kids on the playground. Tears welled up in her eyes, as she turned to hug Haley. "I know it’s hard, honey. I just don’t know what to do."<BR><BR>"You could take her down and let her watch her friends from there." Mom’s eyes widened, but Haley’s Dad cut her off. "The accident was over a month ago. You can’t expect her to stay in her room all the time." <BR><BR>Haley turned hopeful eyes around on her Dad. "Could I? Please?"<BR><BR>"Haley, I’m afraid for you to go down there." Mom argued, finally breaking into the conversation.<BR><BR>"I’ll take her," Dad said. He walked across the room and started pushing her chair down the hallway. He shut the door on Mom's last complaints.<BR></P>
<P>***<BR><BR>Once at the playground, Haley grinned from ear to ear. She couldn’t believe that her Dad had brought her all the way out here to watch.<BR><BR>The other kids saw her watching from the sidelines and waved or called out to her. Haley couldn’t stop waving and calling back to them, so her Dad left to go sit on a bench a little bit apart from the basketball court. Haley was so engrossed in her cheering and watching that she didn’t notice that her best friend, Matthew, was watching her. He left the game and came over to her chair and pushed her out on the court. The other kids stopped playing, and he yelled for Tim to toss him the ball. <BR><BR>"Haley, why don’t you give it a shot." Matthew said, as he laid the ball in her lap.<BR><BR>Haley didn’t know what to say, but she turned to look at her Dad. He was standing and watching, but he made no move to stop her. <BR><BR>"Go on, Haley!"<BR><BR>"Try it!"<BR><BR>"Play with us!"</P></FONT><FONT face=Arial>
<P>"Yeah, like you used to!"<BR><BR>Some of the other kids started calling to her. Haley smiled again. <BR><BR>Matthew pushed her up a little bit closer to the goal. "Go on," he whispered to her.<BR><BR>So, Haley lifted the ball and flung it at the goal. She missed, but Matthew ran to retrieve the ball for her. He handed it back to her. So, she tried again and again. She kept missing but the others kept bringing the ball back. Finally after several tries, she sank the ball. Cheers echoed around the playground, and Haley had never felt so happy. Her Dad got up and hugged her, "I’m so proud of you." </P></FONT>